Dec. I, 18S5.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



427 



• (illiOISG Kf.KIXED CfOLD A>'I> TuROWlN'B A 



I>KiiH:jiE OS THE Vioi.KT." — We ill Ceylon have 

 no mean opinion of our tea, bnt let us listen to 

 Messrs. Lewis ct Co.s superlatives ! Here tiiey are: — 



NEW season's CEVLllNS. 



Half-chests Ceylou flowery pekoe (ixliibitioii .ipeci- 

 mcii ^rt— a blaze of golden "tip, perfection in liquor — 

 ahanliilelii iiwUlilexs.) :i 9. 



Half-clii'sts superb now season's Ceylon orange pekoe 

 (handsou.e leaf, full of tip, full, rich liquor, with 

 superb quality) i 'i\. 



Cliesls extra choicest new season's Ceylon broken 

 pekoe (hauilsome tippy leaf, strong, ripe, sappy liquor, 

 with exquisite flavour.) l.Uj. 



Cli, sts extra choicest new season's Ceylon broken 

 pekoo (very handsome, with tip, strong, telling liquor, 

 with highest quality) 1 liJ. 



Chests extra choicest new season's Coylou pekoe 

 handsome leaf, with tip, fragrant, rich and extra line) 

 1 :>\. 



Half-chests extra choice new season's Ceylon pekoe 

 (well made leaf, with tip, strong, thick, powerful liquor, 

 with finest flavour) 1 31. 



Chests e.vtra choice new sejison's Ceylou pekoe sou" 

 choug (handsome, full, rich, mellow liquor, with high 

 est quality) 1 1. 



Chests choicest new season's Ceylon .souchong (hand- 

 some, malty great power, choice quality) Il^d. 



Chests choice new season's Ceylon pekoe fauniugs 

 (tippy, treble thickness; worth 2s in liquor) II Id. 



Il.alf-chests choice new season's CeyU)n lirokcn (leafy, 

 gooil cobur, strong, telling liquor.) 81d. 

 The gradation of adjectives is wonderful and the 

 ll.id tea being worth 2/ in liquor is the linishing touch. 

 '' The "Qcestion of the Dav : How to Make 

 Money." — Under this heading a correspondent 

 writes to the Hongkong DuUij Vrcitx pointing out 

 various undertakings in the Malay peninsula in 

 which money might beprolitably invested, such as 

 mines and agricultural companies : with regard to the 

 latter, iie says : — 



I caiuiot understand how is it that the rich agri- 

 cultural soil of a coimtry so well adapted for the pro- 

 ducing (Jf tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, gambicr, sago, 

 tapioca and all the tropical products of the liastv is al- 

 most entirely neglected ! There are in Johore only a few 

 small colTee estates, the trees on which, now in their 

 second, third, and fourth years, have surpassed all 

 cxpe-etation ; and the cultivation of Liberian coffee is 

 now an unqualiKed success, and new plantations are 

 rapidly being opened up. There is the .Johore Tea 

 Planting Co. started by a London syndicate some three 

 years ago which is also a great success ; and the j 

 company -is now clearing and plautmg on a large scale. 

 Small quantities of tea are bemg shipped every month 

 to the i/ondon market, the quality prouounced equal 

 to the tinest produced in Ceylou, superior to the i 

 China as well as the India teas. I hear of an Agri- 

 cultmal Company about to be started in Johore for ' 

 the production of tea, coffee, tobacco and hemp and 

 other tropical products. This, I should think, with 

 facts now before me, will meet with success, as every 

 new enterprise which has for its object the opening | 

 up of a fertile countrv richly deserves. I enclose you 

 an article entitled " Liberian Ci'ffee Prospects,'' which 1 

 appeared some time ago in one of the Singapore 

 papers, which, if you will kindly insert in your valu- 

 able columns, I am sure will be read with very great 

 interest by niany of your subscribers. Since this 1 

 article was written, the Chasserlau estate in Singapore [ 

 lias been formed into a public limited conq)any, with | 

 a capital of S'230,OfX) all subscribed for by about i 

 twenty-five shareholders. The area of the said estate 

 in Singapore comprises .S,20() imperial acres. 

 He also adds : — 



1 have before me a Manila prospectus for the pro- 

 duction of hemp in the Philippine Islands, showinga 

 profit of something like HO per cent per annum. It is 

 wellkiiown that the profit 011 hemp cultivation in the 

 I'bilijipinc l.-,land3 is over lixi per cent per annum, bnt 

 Ijij-'lisii c.ipital once invested in .any business in those 

 (iciiglitt'ul islands is seldom or never seen again. This 

 I know from sad experience. 



I A Bo.mbav tirm ia advertising Itussian kerosine 



I for sale. This is the first time, probably, that 



; the produce of the famous wells at Baku has 



reached India. Last year, India imported over 20J 



million gallons of kerosine ; and nearly all of it 



came from the United Stales. — Matlnis Mnil. 



Dei.i News. — By last advices from .\morica it 

 appears that the consequences of Peli tobacco of the 

 1S81 crop lacking showy colours were lieginning to 

 be felt, it having become ditlicult to dear off stocks 

 of that article. The imports of Sumatra loljacoo 

 into .\merica from .Tune IHBI to June l.MSo reached 

 the total of two millions of guilders in value. — Stniiln 

 Times. 



The Countuv which the Gekma-ns are aiming at 

 from Zanzibar, and which is now to be the scene 

 of another Boundary Commission, has been de- 

 scribed by an English missionary, Mr. Last, who 

 has lived 111 it tor eight years. Beginning about 

 twenty miles from the coast, it runs back among 

 mountains which rise to the respectabk! height 

 of 7,000 feet, and are covered with valuable 

 forests. The fertility of these uplands is depicted 

 ill attractive colours. The crops raised by the 

 natives are Indian-corn, millets, beans, pumpkins, 

 cassava, and bananas : of the latter (hoy have 

 eight varieties. The soil readily yields much more 

 llnui the actual wants of the agriculturist require. 

 Irrigation is, commonly practised, especially in a 

 dry season, and the abundant supply of water upon 

 the mountain slo]ics makes it (^omi)aratixely easy. 

 At an elevation of 4,000 feet Knglish vegetables 

 can be grown to perfection, and potatoes in part- 

 icular attain fabulous dimensions. Ordinary Kng- 

 lish llowers also do well. The fruits are the com- 

 mon onus of India and other sub-tropical coun- 

 tries, while on the higher ranges the raspberry 

 and blackberry grow wild and can be raised to the 

 level of Englsh garden fruit by domestication. 

 Rice is produced in the iilains and valleys, to- 

 gether with three varieties of sugarcane. One tract 

 in the hills is famous for iron mines. The climate 

 at a height of 4,000 feet is said to be healthy. 

 There are summer rains for a month about Nov- 

 ember, and the autumn monsoon from March to 

 June. During the cold season the temperature at 

 sunrise is about 50° Fahrenheit, rising to 70° at 

 midday, and tires are necessary at night ; in the 

 hot month-j the thermometer marks DO", but one can 

 sleep without a punkah. The people are extremely 

 ]ieaccable, not to say cowardly. If they can possibly 

 run and hide in the jungle, they greatly prefer 

 doing so to fighting. 'I'here is said to be jilcnty 

 of waste land, which the local chiefs will sell for 

 a piece of cloth, or give for nothing to any white 

 man who will do them the favour of coming to 

 live among them. These chiefs divide the country 

 between tliem, and thongh owing a nominal allegi- 

 ance to Zanzibar, they are practically independent. 

 Possibly they will change their views as to the 

 desirableness of white settlers after a short exper- 

 ience of German military colonists. Hitherto the 

 benelicent missionary had been their only type of 

 white man. Mr. Last mentions a report that the 

 Crcrmans are about to make a railway up from the 

 coast; and if this be true, the happy idyllic life 

 of poor (Juashee has not much longer to last. At 

 the same time it is more than doubtful if his coun- 

 try will ever be worth anything .as a German colony 

 in the true sense of the word. The fertility of the 

 land may be all that Mr. Last describes it, but those 

 who have had ]iractical experience of the tropics 

 will be slow to believe that Europeans can increase 

 and multiply in a country situated six degrees south 

 of the line, and where wheat cannot be grown. — 

 I'iiini'i'r. 



